Pet Shipping from the USA to France

Pets from the United States can enter France on the EU’s terms once their rabies vaccination is valid, since the European Commission keeps younger pets from entering the EU from outside it, and France adds conditions of its own.

France bars category 1 dogs from import and from transit, and lets category 2 dogs in on the conditions for dogs that may be dangerous. A dog is put in a category only if a veterinarian’s assessment of its build puts it there, the ministry says, not because it looks like a banned breed, so your dog’s category is settled before anything is booked. A dog from outside the EU must also have at least one adult tooth before France admits it, under article L 236-1 of the French rural code. A Bengal or Savannah cat arriving without a pedigree from a breed register the ministry approves counts as a hybrid and needs its own import permit, applied for at the regional environment office (DREAL), and the ministry counts Savannahs of generations F1 to F4 as non-domestic, needing a special import permit and possibly a CITES permit.

Your pet needs a microchip implanted before the rabies vaccination, either ISO 11784 and 11785 compliant or read with a scanner you bring, a rabies vaccination that has had 21 days to take effect if it is a first shot, and the EU animal health certificate, which a USDA-accredited veterinarian issues through VEHCS, valid for 30 days, and USDA endorses within 10 days of your pet’s arrival in the EU. The certificate and the other documents have to be in French, bilingual, or translated by an approved translator. Up to five pets can travel non commercially, with you or with someone you authorize in writing, in which case the European Commission has you travel no more than five days before or after your pet; anything else follows commercial rules, which we also handle.